Chinese automaker BYD has introduced the Qin hybrid on the local market as a successor for the F3DM.

Chinese automaker BYD has introduced the Qin hybrid on the local market as a successor for the F3DM.

BYD unveiled the Qin hybrid back in 2012 at the Beijing Motor Show but only now the car is effectively on sale in China. Described as a "high tech, performance-based hybrid car", the Qin comes with a 1.5-liter gasoline engine delivering 151 bhp (113 kW) and 240 Nm (177 lb-ft) working together with an electric motor providing 147 bhp (110 kW) and 250 Nm (184 lb-ft). This hardware setup provides a combined output of 291 bhp (217 kW) and 479 Nm (353 lb-ft).

BYD says the Qin hybrid needs only 5.9 seconds to get from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) and is capable of reaching a top speed of 115 mph (185 km/h). In electric mode it has enough juice to provide a range of up to 44 miles (70 km) while in hybrid mode it can do 177 MPGe which represents about 1.6 liters / 100 km.

It features four driving modes (EV+ECO, EV+SPORT, HEV+ECO and HEV+SPORT) and overall it looks quite nice for a Chinese car. Clients already preordered 4,155 units for a plug-in hybrid which kicks off at the equivalent of 32,266 USD and according to BYD the model will be introduced in Europe early next year.

As a side note, BYD has already announced plans to enter the U.S. market by late 2015 with about four models and one of them could be the Qin hybrid.